By Adam Swift
It was a chaotic end to an already emotional Town Council meeting Tuesday night as a masked, online troll hurled vulgarity and an antisemitic slur during public speaking over Zoom at the end of the meeting.
Much of the meeting had been dominated by a discussion of the town’s flag policy, specifically relating to the potential raising of the Israeli flag and a subsequent motion for the council to support a proclamation in solidarity with the Jewish people introduced by Councilor Rob DeMarco.
The council typically holds two public speaking portions of its meetings, one toward the beginning and another near the end.
While there were varying opinions expressed during both public speaking portions of the meeting and during debate among the councilors, the discussion had largely remained within the bounds of public meeting decorum.
At about 8:40 p.m., resident Todd Sacco was addressing the council over Zoom, criticizing the council for approving an unwieldy flag policy earlier this year and then not moving forward with a vote on DeMarco’s proclamation.
At that point, another participant watching the meeting through Zoom broke in and shouted “Say her name you ____ ___,” using a vulgarity and an antisemitic slur.
In the confusion, several councilors shouted to shut down the Zoom video while others tried to identify who made the comment, one noted that it was an online troll and that he was masked during the online outbreak.
Following the online attack, Rabbi Benjamin Flax of Temple Tifereth asked to address the council.
“I live in Beachmont and I realize I am not represented on this council,” said Flax. “But as a religious leader in our community, I just want to make clear that it is situations like that that have made what Mr. DeMarco has brought up tonight as a necessity, to draw this attention and to make this statement that that is unacceptable dialogue and that the violence and vitriol that has been spewed continually, not just since Oct. 7, but continually. We liked the public statements people made of their experiences, but what about the student who got harassed in Harvard Square in 2016 and jumped getting a beer after school? That was me.
“Or the Jew who was on the train and getting yelled at about The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in 2017?” Flax continued. “That was me. This is not just an issue that we are saying is out there; what Mr. DeMarco is bringing up are issues that are facing us now, and having outbursts like that. I did not want to speak tonight, I recognize the order of how this goes, but hearing that, that is the reason why Mr. DeMarco needed to bring this up and why it needs to be a limited scope.”
Earlier in the meeting, DeMarco had offered up a proclamation in support of the Jewish community in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas in Israel.
After speaking to members of the community and other councilors, DeMarco said he was only going to offer the proclamation and not ask for the Israeli flag to be flown at the town’s flagpole at the E.B. Newton Cultural Center.
Following DeMarco’s motion, there was debate among the councilors, some requesting new motions to include the hardships of the Palestinian people within the motion.
Precinct 3 Councilor Hannah Belcher used her council privilege to postpone the motions, which will be back on the agenda for the next council meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
Following the meeting, state Representative Jeff Turco issued a statement condemning the display of anti-semitism at the council meeting.
“I am horrified to have witnessed the disgusting display of anti-semitism at the Winthrop Town Council meeting,” Turco stated. “The displaying of the swastika is always offensive but to see it at our Town Council meeting is abhorrent. In light of the events of October 7th, this is no time for equivocation and so I proudly join my voice in condemning the rising tide of anti-semitism in our world, our country and now on the zoom screen of Town Council.”
Council President Jim Letterie said he believed there was a swastika on the screen, but that everything happened so fast that he couldn’t be 100 percent sure.